Making a Comeback

            A long time ago, goats were eliminated from islands to help boost other native species population. Goats were grazing on the grass a lot, causing the greens to slowly disappear. With the removal of the goats, the greens started growing back. However, there is now another specie that is rising in population ever since the goats were removed. The Galapagos tortoises have made a comeback. However, some of the Galapagos inhabited areas have native plants being outnumbered by non-native plants. The factor is said to be almost 1.6 to 1. After many years of the goats eliminated, a survey was taken by scientists. There were now 754 alien plants, and 257 were not known to grow in the Galapagos. Scientists are pondering on how this is happening. Since 1999, people were banned from bringing non-native plants to Galapagos. Even though it is rarely happening now, it is still happening. Bringing Galapagos back to its original state is going to take some more work.

            The problem with the non-native plants invading the Galapagos land is related to environmental science concepts. These non-native plants have outnumbered the amount of native plants that currently exist. However,  the fact that the Galapagos tortoises have made a comeback and risen their population size is good.

            This article is important for people to read because it has to do with the chance of Galapagos native plants being completely wiped out by non-native plants. 754 alien plants found on Galapagos is a lot. If 257 of these plants were not known to have been growing in Galapagos in the past, then why are they currently there? Scientists are still clueless on how this is happening, but it is possible that people could still be bringing in these alien plants. People are able to make more of an effort to revive Galapagos' native plants if they stop bringing in alien plants. Certain species could be relying on the native plants only for food.

http://news.discovery.com/earth/galapagos-islands-tortoise.html